Fuel to the Fire
by Nutmeg44
Summary: "You call them bigoted? You're discriminating against first years who weren't even students of this school during the actual war. How is that fair or just?"


**A/N **Written for Samhain_Smut 2012 on LiveJournal.

Thank you to my beta, _**yamimoukin** _for fixing all my mistakes.

The prompt request is below.

* * *

"Luna, this will be the year we should have had last year. It's going to be brilliant!"

Ginny Weasley could hardly contain her excitement. She was sitting in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express with her best friend Luna Lovegood, speeding towards Hogsmeade, Scotland. Luna and Ginny were poised to begin their seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in a Post-war wizarding world. Although many of last year's seventh year students would be returning this year to finish their education under competent tutelage, the last of the Weasley boys, Ginny's older brother Ron, would not be amongst them. Ginny was more than happy that he wasn't, although she would never admit that to anyone except Luna.

Luna merely looked up from her _Quibbler_ and smiled at Ginny before saying, "Ginny, I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you. You were excited about last year and look how that turned out."

"I know, Lu, but this year will be different. There are no Death Eaters masquerading as Professors this year. The war is over; the right side won. There's nothing to get in a tizzy about. We can finally have some fun," Ginny said, staring thoughtfully out the window. She continued watching the passing countryside before adding as an afterthought, "Granted, the Slytherins will still be there, but all the really dreadful ones are in Azkaban and the rest are powerless."

"Ginny, remember that some of the Slytherins were targeted just as much as we were last year. We were all oppressed one way or another. But this year should be different. I look forward to the changes." Ginny could only smile at the dreamy but knowledgeable way that Luna spoke. It showed how completely Ravenclaw the blonde girl was.

Many things had changed since last year, Luna's disposition amongst them. She still spoke of unknown creatures and believed in strange practices and customs but she was less inclined to speak of them to just anyone, preferring instead to limit her interactions to close friends and loved ones. Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom were principle among the chosen few. Ginny supposed these changes were attributed to trust issues and trauma stemming from the war. Ginny had her own issues, many very similar to Luna's, but Ginny was more forthcoming when it came to problem solving, preferring to scream, shout, and hex it out. Luna was more inclined to silently bottle it up and Neville to quietly brood about it. As a result, Ginny was the only one making great strides towards recovery.

They continued their inconsequential chatter for the rest of the journey, only pausing when Neville, Seamus and Dean popped in to catch up and when Ginny took leave to go conduct the Prefect's Meeting. At the beginning of the summer, Ginny's letter from Hogwarts arrived with not one but two badges enclosed. She had been secretly hoping for one or the other but she could not imagine that the Headmistress would bestow the honour of both. Her parents had been beside themselves with joy. She became the third Head Student and the second Quidditch Captain to grace the family. After the meeting, Ginny returned to her now full compartment and enjoyed the company of her friends until the train arrived at Hogsmeade station.

* * *

In the Great Hall, Headmistress McGonnagall gave her introductory speech at the Welcome Feast – significantly less quirky than Dumbledore's speeches. The first years were sorted – there were a record number of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, more than in any other year on record (possibly a reaction to the neutrality of those houses in the recent war). The Head Boy and Girl were announced to the school – Ginny and her Ravenclaw counterpart Henry Forrester. By the time Ginny made it back to her private rooms at the end of the night she could barely stand on her own volition. She would have needed to find the strength to unpack her trunk had she not remembered that the castle was full to the brim with house elves. She could only muster a passing thought regarding her appreciation for the elves before her head hit the pillow, and she was in the land of dreams.

The next morning was blissfully a Saturday which would provide the students of Hogwarts the whole weekend to get settled before term began on Monday. At breakfast, Ginny found Luna and noticed for the first time that Hermione was back to formally finish her schooling. Hermione looked more withdrawn and reserved than she had during her previous years. Ginny supposed this was due to the lack of Ron and Harry this year, who had decided to accept Kingsley Shaklebolt's offer to begin Auror Training at the Ministry. Hermione had never bothered to make any other friends. Ginny knew this year would be especially hard for the well-read Gryffindor girl.

"I wonder why we didn't see her on the train," Ginny mused to Luna, as she watched Hermione nibbling her toast and reading her Charms text. "She wasn't in the Prefect's Meeting either."

"Well, she wouldn't be a Prefect anymore. Her official time at Hogwarts ended and her titles and positions went with it. Now she's just a student," Luna replied, in that ethereal voice she tended to use when stating facts.

Looking around at the faces in the Great Hall Ginny realized that Luna was right. There were quite a few 8th years, but they didn't seem to fit in anywhere. They were students, obviously, sitting at their respective house tables, but there were obvious places left empty where missing friends should be; friends who were either lost in the war or opted not to return. The table with the most missing students was incidentally Slytherin. Though many were ushered out of the castle before the actual fighting began and remained unharmed, a great deal of the older years had not returned.

From Harry's year, Ginny only recognized Blaise Zabini, Theo Nott Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass. Ginny remembered reading reports in the _Daily_ _Prophet _that Goyle was put in Azkaban for following in his father's footsteps and Crabbe perished in the fire in the Room of Requirement. There were rumours that Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode opted to finish their education on the Continent. No one knew what had happened to Draco Malfoy. After he and his mother were pardoned, following Harry' favourable testimony and his father was sentenced to the _Kiss_, he had just disappeared from the public eye.

Ginny was beginning to move her gaze away from the Slytherin table when she locked eyes with Blaise Zabini who winked at her. Ginny was shocked for a moment and found she was unable to look away. In that time, he smiled and blew her a kiss. The action caused Ginny's senses to return, and she quickly looked away and resumed her conversation with Luna.

* * *

For the rest of the day Ginny lounged around her private sitting room with Luna and came up with wild ideas as to what the school term would bring. Luna, as usual, dreamed of going on the hunt for strange, mysterious, and largely non-existent creatures in the Forbidden Forest. Ginny, on the other and, had more realistic goals for the term ahead – she wanted to find a boyfriend. Her problem lay in the fact that everyone assumed she was blissfully in love with the _Chosen One. _In the midst of all the weekend plotting and planning, Ginny couldn't stop thinking about Blaise Zabini and his peculiar actions at breakfast.

True, he was extraordinarily smart, ridiculously rich and unbearably handsome but Ginny had always considered him a bigoted, arrogant Slytherin who was a bit of a prat and a poser. What annoyed her most was that she _had_ noticed him – It was enough to even consider what he could be like. It was hard _not _to notice. Now in his eighth year, eighteen year old Blaise Zabini stood at a strapping six-foot, four inches tall with a perfect caramel complexion, high cheekbones, hazel eyes, and the sexiest lips ever to grace a teenage boy. It irked Ginny to admit that – even if it was just to herself, in the deep recesses of her mind.

In the past two years or so the thought had crossed Ginny's mind to flirt a little with the Slytherin boy but had always refrained due to the tensions between the houses and the impending war. But now with the end of the war and Harry's decision regarding their unfortunate relationship, Ginny found that nothing was keeping her from indulging in her curiosity. Granted, curiosity killed the cat, but she was hardly a mere cat; she was a strong, Gryffindor lion. With a decision made, all she had to do now was figure out her next move.

Over the next week, had Ginny been paying attention, she would have realized that that decision was not for her to make. Zabini's gaze never shifted from her. She felt his eyes every time they were in the same place but he never did anything more. He finally made the first move that Wednesday afternoon when they were leaving Professor Slughorn's Potions lesson.

The eighth years, as few as they were, shared all their lessons with the seventh years of their respective houses. On the way out of the Dungeons en route to Transfiguration with Professor Weatherby, Ginny had stopped to have a word with Henry Forrester regarding their upcoming Prefect's Meeting when she felt a sharp pinch on her bum. Startled and fuming at the audacity, Ginny turned around swiftly to see Blaise Zabini wearing a smug smile on his face. She was ready to ask him what in Hades he thought he meant by such impertinent behaviour when his rich, baritone voice said,

"Nice arse, Weasley. I hope to see more of it at Old Sluggy's 'Do on Sunday," before he winked and walked away.

That's when Ginny remembered her standing invitation to Professor Slughorn's dinner parties and soirees as a member of his Slug Club. Normally she loathed going to his events but relished the Elvish wine he liked to serve, so she usually made the effort, if begrudgingly. Now she had more than good tipple as an incentive to give up her Sunday evening to be in Old Sluggy's company. Blaise Zabini made his intentions plain. It was time for Ginny to see how far he would go…with a little encouragement, of course.

* * *

For the rest of the week Blaise Zabini seemed answer Ginny's unspoken question of how far he would go. His body language spoke volumes to where his interests lie. Between the lingering touches that sent shivers through her body when he passed her in the corridor and the whispered words in her ear about his deepest desires for her, Ginny was practically a bouncing ball of hormones by the time Sunday's dinner party rolled around.

So Ginny, sheathed in a little black dress that was far clingier than it had any right to be, waltzed into Slughorn's dinner party. When her eyes locked with Blaise's across the room _when had she started thinking of him as Blaise?_ she felt every bit the sultry vixen her dress made her seem – she must remember to thank Phle—er—Fleur for giving it to her. He was practically undressing her with his eyes. If Ginny didn't know any better, she would think he could see the style and colour of her knickers. Grabbing a glass from a passing house elf, Ginny made a beeline for Hermione and Neville who stood in the far corner chatting with Bradley Cuffe, a third year Ravenclaw, who was apparently the grandson of Barnabas Cuffe, the _Daily Prophet _Editor.

She adamantly kept Blaise in her eye line at all times but made a concerted effort to seem completely unimpressed and uninterested in his presence at the gathering. By the time she mingled her way across the room, and had conversed with everyone, in the way that Aunt Muriel had taught her was appropriate for a proper young lady, she finally reached Blaise and his conversation companion Charles Harkiss, a sixth year Slytherin. As she approached, Blaise murmured something inaudible to Charles and he quickly left to join the conversation Cormac McLaggen seemed engrossed with.

"Mr. Zabini," Ginny began, in the polite way Aunt Muriel had taught her, "You know it's very rude to undress a woman with your eyes from across the room."

"My sincerest apologies, Miss Weasley," his deep voice sending mellow vibrations through her entire body, "I'd be more than happy to undress you with my hands, if I didn't fear our dinner companions wouldn't expire due to such inappropriate aperitif behaviour." A smug smirk graced his lips again and Ginny had to consciously tear her eyes away from staring at them.

It might have been the three glasses of Elvish wine that loosened Ginny's tongue or some perverse bravery she rarely felt, but without missing a beat, Ginny looked him up and down, took one last sip of her wine, looked up at him beneath lowered lashes, and replied, "That can be arranged."

It was the by the grace of Merlin that Blaise Zabini was able to retain his composure and not swallow his tongue. The only reaction he could muster was to continue staring at the delectable redhead and sip his wine.

Ginny countered with a devilish smirk, and a quiet but pleasant, "Will you excuse me," before turning and simply sashaying away.

* * *

Ginny's flirtation with Blaise progressed rather rapidly from that point on. The whispering and secret caresses now had two active participants, and Ginny was enjoying every minute of it. She still spent her free time with Luna hanging out in her rooms, outside by the lake or studying in the Library, but when she was alone she would stroll through the castle seeking out Blaise for some covert flirting. The first couple of weeks were going well, with Ginny balancing all her Head Girl responsibilities, holding Quidditch try-outs, and keeping up with her school work like any other student.

It was after her first Quidditch practice as the team captain that things with Blaise reached a new, blissfully exciting level. Ginny stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a fluffy towel. The rest of the team had departed in favour of dinner in the Great Hall. Ginny had stayed behind under the pretence of planning a more comprehensive training strategy. Really, she just wanted some time to gather her thoughts.

This practice set Ginny on the road towards the career she wanted most in the world, the one that had been her dream since she was five years old. She had back-up plans, of course, but playing professional Quidditich was her ultimate goal. Ideally, she would love to play Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies, but if that didn't pan out, then any other team would do. Barring a failed Quidditch career, a career as a Healer was the next best thing, and Ginny had ensured she had the grades to do it, just in case. If that didn't work, though she couldn't imagine why it wouldn't, she would join George at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. She was musing about how much her mother would hate that idea when she heard a door close and spun around to see what the disturbance was, only to see Blaise leaning against the closed door looking the picture of perfection.

"What a pretty picture you make." His voice was low, and the rumbly echo in the empty showers did wonderful things to her lower regions.

"What are you doing here? You almost got hexed for surprising me in such a vulnerable moment." Ginny's voice was steady but there was an underlying apprehension as to his intentions. While she was more comfortable with Blaise due to their on-going flirtations, the war hadn't been over for that long and he was still a Slytherin. Her only comfort was that her team mates knew where she was and if anything happened, someone would come looking.

"I'm taking you up on your offer. I believe you said that arrangements could be made to have me undress you… with my hands. It appears you've saved me the trouble."

At his words, all worry about his potentially nefarious intentions left her mind to be replaced by blind lust. Ginny was in no way a saint and it had been a long time since she had been touched or held in any stimulating way. Her tiny hands could only alleviate so much pressure before the frustrations became too overwhelming. Now, looking at Blaise with his long fingers and powerful hands, she drew all of her self-control not to simply drop her towel and let him devour her. Instead, she chose to play coy and seductive and see how this encounter would play out.

Apparently, she wouldn't have to wait long. In a split second Blaise closed the distance between them and had gently pushed her against the wall between two shower stalls. He was so close that Ginny had to strain her neck to look up to meet his eye and she could smell the musky scent of his cologne. Mixed with the spicy scent of her vanilla shampoo and the feeling of his fingers idly trailing up and down her thigh, a heady mixture boiled.

With every passing stroke, Blaise's hand trailed higher and higher up her left thigh, until it was far beyond the hem of her towel. Ginny could barely supress the gasp that escaped her lips when his fingers grazed the underside of her buttocks before he moved them down her leg again. The hypnotizing movement made it difficult for Ginny to keep her eyes open and locked with Blaise's. He, on the other, hand seemed cool and calm, and for all anyone would know they were talking about the weather.

Before his hand could leave the confines of the towel; however, Blaise grasped her thigh with one hand and gripped her waist with the other and lifted her up to his eye level producing a squeak from the flushed redhead. Now she wasn't forced to strain her neck, but the knee between her now spread thighs caused a new kind of strain. With only his trousers acting as a barrier between her increasingly moist centre and his muscular leg, Ginny became all too aware of exactly how aroused his simple action was making her.

Ginny had expected Blaise to continue his languid stroking of her leg now that it was at a more manageable height, but instead he hitched her leg around his hip and exposed her moist centre to the rapidly cooling air in the shower room. The new sensations caused interesting things to happen to Ginny's body. The sensation was heightened when he moved his hand to hover right above her damp curls. Not until his fingers began their languid strokes between her slit, did he finally break eye contact.

Up and down his fingers went, circling her entrance before going back up to her hooded bundle, circling with a little added pressure then down again. While his fingers were busy, his lips did some exploring of their own. Blaise dragged his nose along the column of her neck, inhaling her scent, as his fingers did their work. He left tiny, butterfly kisses along her neck, across her jawline, and along her cheeks just shy of making contact with her lips, adding to the torture his fingers caused. The butterfly kisses progressed to firmer, open mouth kisses with slight brushes of his tongue at the same time that the pressure from his fingers increased around her clitoris and breached her opening ever-so-slightly, causing her breathing to increase and her heart to threateningly beat right out of her chest.

Just as the constant circling became unbearable and Ginny's cantering hips began demanding more, Blaise thrust one long finger deep within her thrumming body and captured her lips in a searing kiss. The resulting sigh was partly a sigh of relief and moan of pleasure. Ginny could feel the smirk on his lips but could not find it in herself to care that the Slytherin man silently gloated about his ability to manipulate her body. All she cared about in that moment were the delicious kisses and his finger hitting just the right spot deep inside her.

The questing fingers continued at a moderate pace to match his kisses for another few moments before he added a second finger to her body and his tongue to her mouth. The combined sensation had Ginny bucking wildly against his hand and her hands gripping his neck and back to keep him against her. When his thumb began circling her clit, and the thrusting became more demanding, the feeling became too much and Ginny pulled her mouth away from his to let out moans and screams of pleasure. His lips found purchase on the pulse point of her neck and began an insistent suction. Her pale skin was sure to be gloriously bruised in all the places Blaise gripped and sucked, and Ginny's lust addled mind was looking forward to the daily reminders. As Ginny neared her breaking point from the pleasurable assault Blaise's low murmur of, "Cum for me," reached her ear and the deep rumble travelled from her ear right through her body to the point where she was connected to his hand, and she practically exploded, gripping his fingers in an intensely compact vice. Throwing her head back, she let out a guttural scream as her orgasm wracked her body.

When Blaise's eyes met hers, the pleased look on his face told her exactly how glossed and dazed her expression must have been. Placing her back on her unstable legs, Blaise removed his fingers from her crevice, gave them a languid lick.

"Delicious. We'll pick this up another time." He gave her a bruising kiss and left the shower room.

Fleetingly, Ginny thought that she tasted wonderful on his lips before she crumpled to the floor in a sated pile. Amazingly, the towel stayed in place for their entire rendezvous.

* * *

The next few days passed in a pleasurable haze for Ginny as the shower room memory would come back to assault her senses at all the most inopportune times; leaving Ginny a flushed, blushed, giggling mass of red hair. It was one such occasion that found Ginny in the Library attempting to write a potions essay with very little progress. She attempted to describe the reasons for adding mistletoe berries in the Forgetfulness potion when the memory popped unbidden into her mind. In her mind's eye she could still feel his hands on her body, his lips on hers, the scent of his cologne, and in the present it was making her exceedingly and uncomfortably, tense below the waist. It also didn't help that the object of her desire was seated at a table across the room with the other eighth years in his house.

Ginny could hear Blaise's deep voice as he spoke to Theo and Tracey. She figured he must have wanted her to hear him because he was speaking entirely too loudly seeing as they were in a Library. It was no wonder that Madam Pince hadn't descended on them for the noise. The thought only added to the attraction she felt for him. She was just about to give up on her essay and surrender herself completely to the memory when an unwelcome voice whispered in her ear.

"I know what you've been doing and it's unacceptable, Ginny."

"And why is that, Hermione?" Ginny turned in time to see Hermione take a seat in the chair next to her.

"He is a Slytherin," Hermione responded, as if that should explain everything.

"I am aware of that, but that does not explain why it is unacceptable." Ginny's clipped tone incensed Hermione.

"It's dangerous, Ginny. They can't be trusted! This is why I've had to remind people of just who, exactly, they go to school with."

"The war is over, Hermione. We need to move forward." Ginny sighed in exasperation. Suddenly things began to click in her mind.

For the past few days tensions in Hogwarts had been at an all-time high, as high as it had been during the Carrow-riddled year, at least. The general sentiment was considerably anti-Slytherin. It didn't matter that none of the Slytherins actually fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, as they were the first evacuated, belonged to neutral families, or those from families who sided with Voldemort didn't actually declare allegiance themselves. They were all being tarred with the same brush. As a result, Ginny was charged with breaking up more than one duel in the corridors, what could practically amount to lynching, involving several Slytherin students. Ginny was certainly being put through her paces as Head Girl, and now she knew why.

"You have been the one instigating the tensions and prompting the disruptions. Why, Hermione? The school is finally relaxed for the first time in years." Ginny was confused and more than a little disappointed that someone who was so instrumental in bringing about Voldemort's downfall would be promoting such discontent.

"Because, they can't be trusted!"

"Hermione, they are just children! They can't help that they are in a house with a stigma attached."

"I'm not surprised that you have such an opinion, you are after all just a child yourself," Hermione responded, in an extremely condescending tone. "Just know that it is not right for you to be seeing him, given your affiliations."

Ginny could only gasp with indignation at Hermione's comment. She could not believe what she was hearing. She had been minding her own business, doing her school work and living her life _finally,_ the way she wanted, and Hermione had to get involved. She just had to insert her swotty, know-it-all nose into other people's business.

Taking a calming breath, Ginny turned once more towards the bushy-haired brunette before replying in a harsh whisper, "I'm only going to say this once, Hermione, so listen well. I will do as I please with whomever I please. Stay out of my business; it's got nothing to do with you. You might have had some control over Ron and Harry's life but you won't control over mine. Look around, Hermione, neither Ron nor Harry are here anymore. Stop trying to control everything."

With those parting words, Ginny gathered her things and walked briskly towards the table where Blaise was holding court. When he noticed her approach, all conversation at the table ceased. He looked at her with mild interest, but it quickly turned to lust when he noticed the fire in her eyes. She gave the other occupants of the table a cursory glance before speaking.

"Excuse him." She reached across the table, grabbed his tie, and proceeded to pull him out of the Library. Blaise only had enough time to yell for Theo to take his things back to the Common room for him, before he was pulled around the corner. Those who witnessed the red head's exit with her hostage in tow would all later swear they heard their Head Girl say, "Come along, Zabini, you have _work_ to do."

Theo and company could only chuckle at their housemate's apparently pleasurable demise.

* * *

The portrait to Ginny's Head Girl's rooms had barely closed behind them before clothes began vanishing. Blaise's shirt was open, his Slytherin jumper thrown across the room long ago. His tie hung loosely around his neck and his pants unbuckled, open and bunched around his knees. Ginny was in a similar state of hurried undress, with her shirt unbuttoned and open giving Blaise a very good view of her navy blue, lace bra. Her tie lay forgotten on the floor next to the door. Her prim, Gryffindor pleated skirt was bunched up around her waist and her knickers dangled precariously from the ankle of the leg Blaise had carefully tucked on his hip. At first, Blaise attempted to question the redhead about the situation they currently found themselves in, but was summarily quieted with savage kisses and hastily whispered, 'Shut ups', and 'Stop talkings'. With a deep chuckle the dark boy decided to act now and ask his questions later.

Their coupling was hasty, savage, and primal. The moans and groans and slapping skin echoed off the walls of the room. The thrusts were hard and fast; the screams were loud and piercing. His grip on her thighs was enough to leave bruises for days. Ginny's breast that was unseated from the cup of her bra, had a distinct handprint from where Blaise was grabbing and squeezing, and the nipple was pink and puckered from where he had been pinching. Blaise realized Ginny liked a little pain with her pleasure and was not shy about giving her just that, with bruising kisses to her neck and shoulders, all the while he kept up the his punishing thrusts into her tight, little body.

When Ginny readjusted her position around the dark boy and locked both her legs together behind his back, his thrusts went deeper, and there was better connection between his cock and her G-spot, encouraging more piercing screams of pleasure to leave the redhead. With this new angle, Blaise could feel Ginny's orgasm beginning and redoubled his efforts with harder and faster thrusts, using the wall she was sandwiched against, as a brace to really pound into the redhead. On his final thrust the Head Girl threw her head back and screamed her completion, just as Blaise emptied his load into her. When the chills and shivers of their mutual orgasms finally subsided they had just enough energy to slide down the wall and onto the floor next to the door. They hadn't managed to make it any further into the room before their lust overtook them.

When their breathing returned to normal and their minds became unclouded by arousal, Blaise looked over at his companion who was splayed across the floor.

"Care to tell what brought that on? Not that I mind, but I was in the middle of writing an essay."

"You have Hermione to thank for that," Ginny said, with a heavy sigh. "She interrupted me when I was trying to write my Potions essay…Or rather, when I was ignoring my Potions essay in favour of reminiscing in pleasant memories." The sultry smile on Ginny's faces not going unnoticed by Blaise, but he decided to address the Hermione issue first.

"What did she want?" He asked bluntly, turning onto his side and propping himself up on the elbow of his right hand to get a better view of the redhead.

"She was warning me off of you, because of your _evil Slytherin _associations." Her sultry tone but the condescending roll of her eyes had Blaise chuckling amusedly.

"What does she have against people shagging? Perhaps if she got a leg-over, she would be in a much better mood." His left hand had begun idly tracing patterns on her sweat-damped, exposed stomach.

"It's not the shagging so much as the house you're in. She thinks you, and all the other Slytherins are dangerous and can't be trusted. She's still stuck in 'War' mode," Ginny said, with an exasperated sigh.

"But I was never in all that Voldemort nonsense. My family has always been neutral. We've just also always been Slytherin. My Grandfather knew Voldemort when he had started working at Borgin and Burke's, he knew he was a half-blood so he made sure our family stayed well away from his madness," He said thoughtfully, as his hand continued their idle meanderings.

"You're a Burke, aren't you? I always wondered what your lineage was. I knew you were Pureblood but didn't know how." Ginny had propped herself up on her elbows when Blaise was speaking.

"Yes, we're Burkes. As you can tell, we're dark enough without getting involved with Voldemort. My mum alone can keep the rumours going."

"I suppose," she chuckled. "Hermione just needs to stop, she's inciting the students and making my already hectic job harder than it needs to be."

"Of course she's making your job harder, she's jealous that you get to be Head Girl." Blaise's matter-of-fact statement had Ginny whipping her head in his direction to look him in the eye.

"What?"

"She's jealous," he said, simply. "She missed her chance. She should have, and no doubt would have gotten it last year but went off to fight the forces of evil instead. Now she's back, and I'm sure she expected to be lauded and praised for her efforts, but instead she's a friendless war veteran and nonentity and you are the Quidditch Captain and Head Girl."

Ginny blushed a little at his assessment of her but couldn't deny the truth in some of his words. Hermione had been sort of pushed to the side this year. Hogwarts life had moved on, and the students were getting on with their lives. Most were mourning the loss of friends and family and just trying to pick up the pieces, to find some normalcy. None were interested in dwelling on the past. They were all trying to find ways to move on, and Hermione only poured salt in old wounds, stirring up malice.

With a groan, Ginny exclaimed, "Oh, Merlin this is hard. How am I going to handle all of this and NEWTS?"

"You'll figure something out. But for now, I have something else that's hard and needs your immediate attention." Blaise's roaming hands and questing lips, as he spoke removed any thought of Hermione from Ginny's mind. Instead, her only reply was a guttural moan and whispers of 'Bedroom' and 'Round two'.

* * *

Ginny had just stepped out of a broom cupboard on the third floor and was making her way towards the Great Hall for dinner when she heard the commotion. She and Blaise had begun accosting each other in the corridors and between lessons. Whenever the mood struck one of them, and this was becoming quite a regular occurrence, one would seek the other for a little morning, afternoon, or evening delight. Ginny was just leaving the broom cupboard and basking in one such afterglow, when the noise from outside the Great Hall drew her attention.

Standing in a circle surrounded by students from all the Houses were a first year Slytherin and an irate Hermione pointing wands at each other. The first year looked terrified but determined to stand his ground with the support of assorted housemates. The Slytherins were horribly outnumbered; however, as students from all the years from the remaining three Houses were supporting Hermione. The sight before her made Ginny see red and, with a loud bang issuing from her wand, she marched to the centre of the circle.

"What is going on here?" The Head Girl was irate and looking from face to face until someone in the now silent crowd gave her an answer.

"This has nothing to do with you, Ginny. Go on to dinner." Hermione's patronizing tone was really beginning to get on Ginny's nerves.

"On the contrary, Hermione, it has everything to do with me. _I am_ the Head Girl." With that last sentence, Ginny looked Hermione squarely in the eyes, remembering what Blaise had said to her two weeks earlier. "Now, I repeat, what is going on here?"

"This _snake _tried to hex me. So naturally I defended myself," Hermione replied, with her arms crossed and her nose firmly in the air.

"I find that hard to believe, Hermione, he's just a first year."

"It doesn't matter how old they are, evil is evil. He attacked me!" Hermione said, pointing at the Slytherin boy.

Ginny noticed that Hermione was starting to become unstable and irrational.

"Is that true?" Ginny asked, turning to the boy in question. "Did you attack her?"

"Of course not, I was coming down the stairs from Charms, stepped in the trick step and fell; I haven't gotten used to it yet. My wand went off and she got zapped. It's not like I wanted it to happen. It was an accident."

"Who here saw the altercation?" Ginny addressed the waiting crowd.

"I did," said a timid looking first year Ravenclaw girl, who had meekly raised her hand. "It happened just like he said. He was about to apologize when she pointed her wand at him," the first year said, pointing at Hermione.

"Is that an accurate recollection of the facts?" Ginny again asked the gathered audience. Murmurs and assertions flowed through the crowd. Still looking at all gathered she asked, "Then why were you encouraging the insanity? It's barely been two months of school; he barely knows enough offensive magic to be a threat, why are you doing this?"

It was Hermione who answered, "He's a Slytherin, Ginny, they are dark and bigoted." Ginny barely held on to her patience. She saw Blaise join the crowd near the back with the other Slytherins, and his smile gave her some much needed patience.

"You call them bigoted? You're discriminating against first years who weren't even students of this school during the _actual_ war. How is that fair or just?"

Seeing the smiling exchange between Ginny and Blaise, Hermione went on the offensive. "We can't exactly expect fairness from you, though, can we? You are, after all, fraternizing with one of the most notorious of the Slytherins." Hermione's eyes flashed towards Blaise, where he stood at the back of the crowd, then back to Ginny. "We always heard Weasleys were Blood-Traitors but we didn't think you would be a traitor to the Light side, Ginny." A smug, condescending smirk was plastered on Hermione's face.

"She's right, y'know Ginny. You are being traitorous to everything Harry did and stood for," Seamus said, in his thick Irish brogue.

That was the final straw. The patience that Ginny was trying so hard to hold on to had finally left the building. Pulling out her wand and pointing it directly at Seamus, Ginny replied, in a very controlled voice, "I'm a blood-traitor? _I _am a blood-traitor?! I fought Bellatrix Lestrange to protect your half-blood freedom but I am a blood-traitor? You have some nerve, Seamus Finnigan, some nerve. Now shut up before I hex the living shit out of you!"

"Oh, honestly, Ginny, there is no need to behave in such a manner. You're acting as if your two minutes of squaring off against Bellatrix affected the outcome of the war. I was out there Ginny, fighting for my life while you were tucked up safely here in the castle." Hermione's patronizing tone had returned but she had said the absolutely wrong thing. The wand being wielded by the redhead, which was formerly being pointed at Seamus, was now being pointed her Hermione.

"I may have been 'tucked up' here as you so _eloquently _put it but I was anything but safe. This castle was run by Death Eaters, Hermione, and I am a Weasley. How safe do you really think I was? While you were free, Hermione, I was trapped here. I got tortured for them. I submitted myself to the Cruciatus Curse to protect them. So don't you _dare _tell me about contributions to the war!"

The students who were at Hogwarts during the nightmare year with the Carrows all nodded in agreement; they all remembered the detentions. Ginny had been instrumental in protecting all the students, especially the younger ones, from the ire of the Carrows. She was a key player in the reinstating of Dumbledore's Army. She had taught the students defensive spells and how to protect themselves. In truth, the Order of the Phoenix would not have had nearly as many competent student-fighters had it not been for Ginny, Neville, and Luna under Ginny's leadership. So, to hear Hermione saying her contributions were insignificant, and to have all the students agree with that assessment, especially the ones who knew better, was like a punch in the stomach.

When Hermione saw that the students she had rallied to her side were realizing the errors of their ways, she attempted one last argument to discredit Ginny. "But fraternizing with Zabini, Ginny? Have you no respect for Harry? Zabini is Malfoy's best mate. That's as bad as if Pansy Parkinson were to pledge her undying love for Ron, Merlin forbid."

Hermione looked smug again, but noted that not as many people were taking her side this time. Only a few of the older students were nodding in agreement, in support of Harry. Once again, Seamus was among the latter. Ginny also noted his agreement, but this whole argument had severely hurt Ginny and she really didn't want to be around these people much longer.

In a quiet, shakey voice, that reflected the hurt she was feeling, Ginny replied, "Don't bring Harry into this. He made his choice. Now I'm making mine!" Then turning to Seamus she added, "And Seamus, you always jump to the wrong conclusion, don't embarrass yourself by doing it again." Turning to the crowd gathered, Ginny issued an order, in a voice that surprised her with its strength, considering the emotional wounds that had just been reopened by this altercation, "Now, everybody get to dinner before I start issuing detentions… with Filch!" When no one moved right away, the redhead yelled, "NOW!"

When the crowd scattered, Ginny was left alone in the Entrance Hall with Blaise. Seeing him standing there, like a beacon in the darkness, Ginny walked towards him. The tears that had been threatening to spill for the last ten minutes, finally took their tumble down her cheeks. As she approached him, he opened his arms to engulf her in them. As she cried into his chest, she heard him speak.

"Let me take you back to your room and we'll have a house-elf bring you some dinner." A sniffly nod was her only response.

* * *

The days following the Entrance Hall altercation and Ginny's subsequent breakdown saw a change in status in her and Blaise's previously only physical relationship. After he comforted her and dried her tears, they adjourned to her Head Girl's quarters where he ordered dinner from the kitchens, which was delivered by Winky, while she changed into pyjamas. They played chess and Exploding Snap over mugs of hot chocolate. They talked of home, and family, of career plans for after they left Hogwarts. They never spoke of the altercation or Ginny's breakdown. Blaise seemed to instinctively know that it was a rare chink in Ginny's armour and mostly pretended it hadn't happened.

Their connection over the following fortnight had taken a more meaningful turn. Their escapades were no longer scattered around disused classrooms and out-of-the-way broom cupboards around the school. Instead, they spent most of their time in Ginny's private rooms, lounging, studying or utilizing her bedroom. On more than one occasion Luna would join them to study or do school work and it was helping the blonde greatly to overcome her trust issues of Slytherins. It didn't help that the tensions in the school were still running high, but thankfully less people were blindly following Hermione's propaganda agenda.

It seemed that the tensions were affecting the Staff as well, because they sprung one last minute item on the agenda of the mid-October's Prefect Meeting – there was to be a Halloween Fancy-Dress Party. Upon hearing that, Ginny knew that the portrait of Dumbledore in the Headmistress' office had a hand in the planning – this kind of Inter-House unity was definitely not McGonagall's idea.

So, it was this event that saw Ginny Weasley standing in front of her mirror with a white bedsheet artfully wrapped around her to form a toga. The war might have been over, but her financial situation had not changed. Having decided that it was easiest to go to the Fancy-Dress party as Aphrodite since all it required was a bedsheet and for her to wear her hair down, Ginny had gotten an old sheet from Winky and with a little creative transfiguration had managed to look like a passable Greek Goddess. Blaise had agreed to go as her escort after a particularly acrobatic Sunday afternoon shagging session.

As if he knew she was thinking of him, Blaise walked into her rooms just at that moment. She had given him the password a week ago, so that he could come and go as he pleased, since he had been spending so much time there anyway. On more than one occasion she had returned from lessons to find him lying across her bed, reading a book. It was remarkable how comfortable they were around each other now. It was hard to believe it had only been two months since the term had begun.

Looking at him now, Ginny reflected on the man before her. He was dressed in black from head to toe. His trousers and shirt were the same impossible black of his robes, his shoes were polished to the point of reflective and his short, curly hair was immaculately trimmed, his caramel complexion standing out nicely against the dark, rich, fabrics. Rather than walk across the room to join her, he simply situated himself across the bed and continued to watch her.

"You look stunning," he finally said, after a moment of quiet.

Looking at him through her reflection, Ginny spoke. "Thank you. You look pretty sexy, yourself. But who are you supposed to be?"

"I'm Blaise. Surely you remember me? We've been shagging like rabbits for the last two weeks." His sardonic smirk was firmly in place. Ginny rolled her eyes and resumed her primping. A few moments later she spoke again.

"I meant, who are you dressed as, for the Fancy-Dress Party? I'm Aphrodite, Greek Goddess of love and beauty." She turned to face his still unwavering stare and struck a pose. Blaise admired her form silently for a few moments before speaking.

"I didn't feel like dressing up, so I'm just the blank background you get to stand in front of looking fantastic." Now his smirk had morphed into a cheeky smile. Ginny just shook her head but the hint of a smile was playing on her lips as well.

"How thoughtful of you," she remarked, doing one final check of her make-up before turning to him. He seemed to realize she was finally ready because he rose from the bed with enviable grace, walked towards her and extended his arm. Taking his arm, she situated hers in the crook of his elbow, and arm in arm they left her rooms and made their way to the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was decorated in its usual splendour for the Halloween feasts, with Autumn-inspired colours, giant carved pumpkins and bats flying between the floating candles overhead with its artfully placed cobwebs. The large house tables were replaced by the smaller circular tables used at the Triwizard Yule Ball of Ginny's third year. They formed a kind of perimeter around the dance floor and the raised platform for the Staff table was clearly outfitted for a band.

Two larger tables were situated on either side of the Hall acting as the buffet for food and beverages and featured all the delicious foods, drinks and sweets usually served at the Halloween feasts. Looking at the spread laid out before her, Ginny was certain there was nothing left in Honeydukes for the residents of Hogsmeade to buy after tonight.

Ginny was standing, gazing at the opulence of the Great Hall and enjoying the excited atmosphere brought on by the other students when she saw Hermione approaching. Looking around quickly for Blaise, hoping he would come to her rescue and spare her from having another row with the brunette girl, but was sadly disappointed. Blaise had walked away to get them drinks from the refreshment table and could be seen chatting to Theo who appeared to be getting drinks for Tracey and Daphne, who stood nearby. Neville was chatting with Luna and Hannah Abbot across the room, so she would get no rescue from him. Her only hope was to make this conversation be as brief as possible and hopefully not have it ruin her entire evening.

"This is just getting ridiculous, Ginny. Now you're taking him out like he's a boyfriend. Are you really going to show Harry such disrespect?" The brunette, dressed as the Muggle queen, Elizabeth I, had her lips pursed and her hands placed on her hips like a demented Molly Weasley.

Ginny's patience had been wearing thin and it was with patience she didn't know she possessed that she only managed an exasperated sigh as her response before saying, "What now, Hermione?"

"You. You and that Death Eater! You, parading him around, as if he were an acceptable boyfriend. Do you really think your mother would welcome him into the Weasley fold?"

"Enough!" Ginny threw her hands up in the air, and screamed her frustration. "Mum already knows about him. Look around, Hermione, the students are moving on with their lives. You should do the same. Find a boy, dance, and laugh a little. You might enjoy it. Stop trying to make trouble. Don't let the war make you bitter."

"But Ginny, he's a Death Eater, you can't just ignore that." Hermione was trying for one last ditch effort to talk sense into Ginny.

"He does not have a dark mark anywhere on his body, and believe me, I've checked...extensively. But now that you mention it, it's time for me to go find him and check again." With that, Ginny turned away from her long-time friend and made a beeline for the group of Slytherin eighth years.

Seeing the constrained fury on her face as she approached, Blaise reached for her and said, "Whatever she said, don't get your knickers in a twist about it."

Hearing his words and seeing his smile instantly made Ginny relax. This was why she spent so much time with him. He knew how to enjoy life. He didn't let much bother him and she craved that after the stressful events of the war. Unable to help herself, Ginny gave a cheeky grin before she replied.

"That isn't a problem since I'm not wearing any."

Next to her, she heard Tracey and Daphne giggle and Theo choke on his pumpkin juice.

Seeing his friends' reactions, Blaise winked at Ginny and responded, "Ooh, you're being naughty again; I might have to send you to your room."

The redhead saucily replied, "Only if you come with me." Blaise simply took their drinks and her waist and steered them out of the Hall, much to the amusement of the friends he left behind.

They didn't go back to Ginny's room, however. Instead, they went outside to the gardens, which were decorated similarly to the Great Hall. Large Jack 'O Lantern pumpkins acted as barriers separating each bench, the light from the pumpkins giving the whole garden an eerie, orange glow. Finding an empty bench, the couple sat down and placed their drinks next to them. They sat in silence for a few moments, enjoying the company and the cool evening breeze before Blaise interrupted the quiet asking about the conversation with Hermione. Ginny told him everything Hermione had said before taking a sip of her drink. His only response was to pull her closer, kiss her forehead, the tip of her nose then her lips before speaking again.

"Don't worry about her. Just enjoy your time now. You deserve to relax." Then he kissed her again.

The second kiss was considerably less chaste than the first and soon they were no longer sitting side-by-side. Throughout the course of the heated kiss, the Slytherin boy had shifted the Gryffindor girl's position and she was soon straddling his lap. Blaise's hands started moving up Ginny's thighs beneath her toga when he felt her hands moving down his chest towards the waist of his pants. The feeling of her tiny hands undoing his belt mixed with the feeling of his own rough large hands reaching her waist and encountering nothing but skin had a deep groan escaping his lips and into her mouth, which was still attached.

Breaking the kiss, Blaise attempted to voice his thoughts but was quickly distracted by the tiny redhead on his lap who had shifted her attentions from his lips to his neck. Specifically, that spot right below his ear that always made his knees weak. After a moment, Blaise regained his senses and tried to speak again.

"You really aren't wearing knickers."

"Surprise," Ginny replied, before attaching her mouth to his again.

Their hands continued to roam beneath Ginny's costume again and soon they were joined at their most intimate of places. Their coupling was brief; to accommodate the openness of their location, but it was no less intimate. Blaise could feel that Ginny was approaching her completion and knew that his was not far behind. Looking up at the redhead perched on his lap, with her head thrown back and her mouth open in a silent moan of bliss, Blaise realized he wanted this girl. He wanted her as more than just a casual friend with benefits. He wanted to call her his. Shifting his hands from her waist to caressing her cheeks, he spoke.

"Let's make it official."

Her mind was a little fuzzy so it took her a moment to comprehend his meaning but when she did her only reply was to parrot his words back to him.

"Let's make it official?"

"Official," he said. "Be my girlfriend." With one final thrust he pushed them both over the edge.

When they both came down from their orgasms, she looked him in the eye and thought of all the reasons they shouldn't do it, and all the reason they should and to Ginny's surprise, the reasons they shouldn't were just as appealing as the reasons they should. Feeling genuinely content for the first time in years, Ginny simply said, "Yes," before soundly kissing her new boyfriend… officially.

* * *

**Prompt**: 8th-year at Hogwarts: someone from the DA is falling hard for another student who was on the wrong side during the previous year. Meanwhile, despite efforts at conciliation, tensions between Slytherins and the rest of the students run high in various ways. Things come to a head at the Halloween celebration - both for the romance and the hostility.  
**Suggested Character/Pairings**: Ernie/Pansy, Blaise/Padma, Michael/Daphne (or any DA character with a Slytherin character)

**Suggested Kink(s): **Wall sex or outdoors sex, first time for one of the couple.  
Additional comments: A hopeful ending — some degree of resolution?

* * *

_Thanks for reading. Please review!_


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